JPS6063663A - Multiterminal system of microcomputer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the processing speed of a system and to reduce it in size and cost by using a hard disk as a mass-storage external memory and a floppy disk for file backup and information interchange with other systems. CONSTITUTION:A hardware frame 1 consists of a main processor board 2, subprocessor boards 3a-3n, and a hard disk interface 4. A disk unit 5 consists of a floppy disk 6 and a hard disk 7. A spool printer 8 and terminals devices 9a-9n are connected to the hardware frame 1. The system enclosure wherein the hardware frame 1 is stored consists of a card rack, power source, front panel, and back panel; the power source has enough capacity to widthstand the load in a fully-mounted state, and switches for the subprocessors and system resetting are provided on the front panel.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in multi-terminal systems in microcomputers.

With the spread of microcomputers and the development of their performance, efforts have been made to switch to general-purpose machines that are equipped with not only microprocessors but also large-capacity storage devices and perform processing using various software. Indispensable elements for general-purpose machines include external memory that stores large amounts of data, as well as software that takes full advantage of the hardware's functionality and automatically handles input/output control, usually an operating system. In this operating system,
The user only needs to give commands, and the operating system takes care of the detailed work. Points to keep in mind when introducing an operating system to a microcomputer are that it can be easily implemented without the need for advanced technology for large machines or minicomputers, that it fully demonstrates its functions, and that it can be installed within the operating system. The hardware-related parts of the target system are separated and can be installed in any system, and depending on the level and model of the hardware, it can be used alone, multi-user, multi-task, etc. It is possible to select functions to a more precise level. Since there are so many manufacturers and users of microcomputers, the need for a standard operating system has increased.For example, commercially available microprocessors have a well-known control program/monitor (abbreviated as AP/
M) % is attached and functions such as file creation, deletion, and transfer are given.

In parallel with the above, with the increase in capacity and speed of memories and external storage devices, methods based on high-level languages and the like have been developed to perform office work and data processing using a plurality of terminals, that is, terminals. Broadly speaking, such multi-terminal systems can be divided into two types: multi-terminal systems using a single processor and multi-terminal systems using multiple processors. A system for controlling tasks or jobs performed on a terminal, which uses timer interrupts or periodic interrupts.
This is a method of switching and processing the program counter to the program that performs the work assigned to each terminal. When performing full f processing using this system, the hardware configuration is simple, there is less worry about crosstalk, and the resident capacity of the program is small, but on the other hand, the processing speed is slow and the program becomes endrunt. In addition to the fact that interrupt processing may be necessary, it also has the disadvantage that interrupt processing is difficult.

In other words, since a single processor must perform vJ work, the processing speed seen from one terminal becomes slow, and when interrupts occur at each terminal, all of them must be processed in order of priority or distinguished. It takes time and effort to do this, which slows down the overall system speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and when realizing a multi-user system using a microcomputer, it aims at increasing the processing speed, satisfying the requirements of miniaturization and lowering the cost, and has a wide range of 10 devices. The purpose is to obtain a multi-terminal system using a multi-processor.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a sub-processor that processes and services tasks or jobs performed in a plurality of terminals, a main processor that collectively services disk processing requested by the sub-processors, and a main processor that collectively services disk processing requested by the sub-processors. A controller for a node disk used as a capacity external storage device, a controller for a floppy disk for file pickup, a system enclosure equipped with a card rack, a system printer connected to the main processor, and a plurality of terminals. The main objective is to obtain a microcomputer multi-terminal system whose main component is a local printer connected to a microcomputer.

Hereinafter, an overview of the system according to the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. In Figure 1, 1 is the main body of the software (main processor board 2, sub processor board).
3 and 11, and a hard disk interface 4. A disk unit 5 is composed of a floppy disk 6 and a hard disk 7. 8 is a spool printer, 9PL...-
9n is a terminal device. The system enclosure that houses the computer hardware main unit 1 consists of a card rack, power supply, front panel, and back panel. A processor and system reset switch is provided.

The internal configuration of the main processor board 2 is shown in FIG.

There are a RAM 12, a ROM 13, and a common communication RAM 14 centered on the 0FUII, and in addition, there are a printer parallel interface 15, a serial interface 1016, and a system bus interface 17 as external interfaces.

FIG. 3 shows the internal configuration of the sub-processor board. 0
PU21, RAM22, ROM23, and a serial number 1024 as an interface. 25 is a level converter, and 26 is a bus converter.

The disk unit 5 is equipped with one Winchester type hard disk and one double-sided double-density floppy drive. FIG. 4 shows the internal configuration of the hard disk controller. 31 is a bipolar ROM for microprograms.

32 is a bipolar processor, 33 is a disk data interface, 34 is a DMA controller, 46
It is a Babasu interface.

Next, the internal configuration of the floppy disk controller shown in FIG. 5 includes a ROM 42 as a memory, a DMA controller 43, a floppy controller body 44, a data separator 45, and a bus interface 46.

The terminal devices 9a...9n are general-purpose terminals with a built-in microcomputer and a built-in printer interface, to which a local printer can be connected.

'l' of the system configuration explained above! ! -The symptoms are as follows. That is, (1) use of hard disk as large capacity external storage (2)
) File backup and information exchange with other systems
(3) A system printer is used to spool out files. (4) A local printer connected to a terminal device is optional.

On the other hand, as shown in the figure, the number of subprocessors dedicated to each terminal device is equal to the number of terminal devices.
The user's application program runs on the sub-processor. This sub-processor handles Ilo and processes files using a control program monitor (OP/M' for short) as an operating system. Further, file requests requested by each sub-processor are processed by the operating system resident in the main processor.

Next, regarding the OP/M on the main processor, the OP/M and a disk service program reside in the main processor, and perform various services for multi-terminals.

This disk service program communicates requests from the terminal side, confirms the area, and accesses disk files according to the requests. Also, the information read from the disk is returned to the terminal side through the communication area, and the disk service program sends the print file specified by the terminal side to the parallel printer through the spooler I-T0 (see Figure 2).Next, the disk unit Explain the functions of. That is, all user programs run on the sub-processor, and access to the 7 isles issued from the sub-processor is executed via the disk service program. In other words, the sub-processor issues a service request to the main processor at the same time as detailed access details, the main processor performs appropriate processing in place of the sub-processor, and returns the result to the sub-processor 7-, also known as Jc7. ru. Therefore, file management is performed by cp/M on the main processor.

The order of reading files is as follows. When a function call based on the operating system of OF/M is made from the user program of a terminal device to the operating system on the sub-processor, this request is sent to the function code of the main processor via the basic information system (BIOS). File control block (yc!B)t)H[tSends to the main processor and reads the file from the disk.

The disk service program on the main processor
A read operation is performed using the FOB information, and a response indicating completion of the operation is sent to the sub-processor side. Upon receiving this completion response, the sub-processor receives the read data and finishes the file read operation.6. In principle, communication with the sub-processor ends with one response to one request, but Depending on the content of the request and the timing of the request, communication may continue with the same terminal for a certain period of time.

Next, the spool processing capability will be explained. In other words, in response to a request from each terminal device, a utility from the terminal side can print to the system printer, specify a file name and issue a print request to the main processor, or cancel the print request, and display the operating status. operations, but can also be called from an application program.

The disk service program on the main processor performs printout operations requested by the terminal in between other service requests from the terminal. Although a print request is canceled from the terminal device that issued the request, the status can be displayed from any terminal device.

Next, C! on the subprocessor! Regarding P/M,
A real user area called TPA where a user program runs, a console command processor (CAP), a basic disk O6, and a basic input O6 are configured on the same memory map, but some parts have been modified to make it multi-terminal. The basic disk O8 is originally mainly used for disk file management, but the sub-processor does not directly access the disk, but sends a W fi 41 report to the main processor to request disk access from the main processor. On the other hand, since the Basic Input Output System (BOS) is also multi-terminal, it does not directly control the disk controller, but has a communication function with the main processor. Explain handshake. In other words, communication between processors is via "R" sent from the sub-processor to the main processor.
There are "lnQ" and "AOK signals" that are returned from the main processor to the subprocessor, and there is no communication between the processors.
It is now possible to perform an index shake. There is a first half and a second half of the process flow.The first half is when the sub-processor transmits the contents of the request to the main processor, and the second half is when the main processor returns the processing results to the sub-processor.

As explained above, in the present invention, when employing a multi-terminal system in a microcomputer,
A number of sub-processors that process and service tasks or jobs as work lids performed in multiple terminals, a main processor that collectively services disk processing requested by these sub-processors, and a large-capacity external storage device. A controller for a T6' disk, a controller for a 70 disk for file backup, a system enclosure decorated with a card rack, a system printer connected to the main processor, and a local printer connected to multiple terminals. It is a system that has raw components and T system.
It has the great effect of increasing processing speed, reducing size, and lowering costs. In addition, because it uses inexpensive devices, it is possible to go beyond the idea of a central processing system, which has traditionally been carried out using a single medium-sized machine or mini-computer, and to put it into practical use, such as a distributed processing system. . In other words, the multiprocessor method according to the present invention is most suitable for creating a Kufure Chooser system while taking advantage of the single user capacity of the microcomputer itself, and it is possible to create a high-performance system.

As another example of application of this invention, the disk device can be managed by a 7-aisle main processor required by all end-user devices as Takeo, and data can be transferred to each terminal. This method corresponds to connecting a main processor and a sub-processor via a serial data highway.

In addition, each terminal device has its own system disk,
It is also possible to manage the files that are frequently accessed by yourself and transfer only necessary files from the disk.

That's it! ? As described in detail, the present invention realizes a multi-terminal system using a multi-processor as an example of system expansion in a microcomputer, and a great implementation effect can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the system according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows the internal configuration of the main processor board) ~
Block diagram, Figure 3 shows the inside of the sub-processor board.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the hard disk controller, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the floppy disk controller. 1.0 hardware main body, 20 references - main processor board, 3a to 3n11+1 sub processor board, 4
@...hard disk interface, 5...disk unit, 6...floppy disk, 7...-
Hard disk, 80/spool printer, 9a-9n
...terminal device, 11/21/32...processor,
15・＠Haralel interface for fist printer, 17
...System bus interface, 2511・-level converter, 261111・bus converter, 33
...Disk data interface, 34I+43
...DMA controller, 45...φ data separator, 46... bus interface. Patent applicant: Logic Systems International, Inc.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A sub-processor that processes and services tasks or jobs performed on multiple terminals, a main processor that collectively services disk processing requested by the sub-processors, and a hard disk controller used as a large-capacity external storage device; A multi-terminal microcomputer whose main components include a floppy disk controller for file backup, a system enclosure equipped with a card rack, a system printer connected to the main processor, and a local printer connected to multiple terminals. system 0